Luminaire of the wall mounted type



June 16, 1953 v, s, wmg 2,642,523

LUMINAIRE OF THE WALL MOUNTED TYPE Filed Aug. 16 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z9 10 Th 2 q. INVENTOR VEflRL ,5.- Waves ATTORN EY Patented June 16, 1953 LUMINAIRE OF THE WALL MOUNTED TYPE Vearl S. Wince, Newark, Ohio, assignor to Holophanc Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 16, 1949, Serial No. 110,579

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to luminaires of the wall mounted type and is more particularly directed toward luminaires suitable for use as bed lights in hospitals.

The present invention contemplates a wall mounted type luminaire having anvupper, sloping light transmitting and redistributing plate, and a lower, sloping light transmitting and redistributing plate, the plates converging toward one another accepting light radiating f-rom a light source between the plates and transmitting the light rays with change of direction to produce light beams with the maximum intensity oblique, one beam for ceiling illumination and one for illumination of a work area below the luminaire- -for example, the reading area for the occupant of a bed with the head of the bed under the luminaire. The luminaire is provided with an opaque housing extending between the plates on all sides thereof so that all light which escapes must pass through the plates. Inasmuch as such light transmitting and redistributing plates would be in the normal line of view for persons facing the wall on which the luminaire is mounted or looking lengthwise of the room, the surfaces of these plates would appear luminous in all directions of observation, and the present invention contemplates providing suitable screens extending far enough above and below the plates to cut off the plates from observation in limited regions both above and below the horizontal. In this manner the stray light escaping from plates of luminaires mounted along one wall of a room is cut off so as to avoid annoying glare to occupants of beds along the opposite wall.

The present invention also contemplates luminaires for the general purpose above set forth wherein each luminaire has a shiftable screen or shutter by which it is possible to cut off all downward light or all upward light or selected portions of the downward or upward light, or to allow all the light which the luminaire can deliver to escape upwardly and downwardly. This provides for flexibility of use and control by the occupant of the bed or the hospital stafi.

The accompanying drawings, show, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, one embodiment in which the invention may take form, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of the invention rather than limiting the same.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the luminaire with parts broken away on the line I-I of Fig. 2, showing interior construction;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Figures 4 to 7 are outline views illustrating the disassembled luminaire, Figures 4 and 6 being end elevational and top plan views of the portion of the luminaire normally permanently attached to the wall; and Figures 5 and 7 being end elevational and top plan views of the detachably carried housing;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the complete luminaire; and

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic View illustrating it in use above the bed and showing the light distribution.

In the drawings, a wall is indicated at W and'a wall carried outlet box at B. The backplate II) has rearwardly extending end flanges II and I2 which reach back to the wall W to form a rear vertical ventilating flue Fl. The plate I0 also has forwardly extending top and bottom flanges I3 and I4. The backplate I0 carries a splicing box indicated at I5 adapted to be secured to the outlet box in any convenient manner. The backplate also carries a forwardly extending bracket I6 to support a lamp socket I I, and two forward- 1y extending brackets I8 and I9. The bracket I9 carries a headed bolt 20 provided with a nut 2|, the bolt 20 carries a spring 20' pressing against a ring 22 with an outer drumlike surface 23 and flange 24. The bracket I8 carries a ring 25 of L-shaped cross-section which forms a bearing for a flanged ring 26. The parts carried by the brackets I8 and I9 center about the axis 28, 28 o the lamp socket l1.

The members 24 and 26 support a sheet metal shutter 21 which occupies substantially of are about the axis 28, 28. This shutter is preferably cylindrical in the cross-section and may be shifted about on the bearing members by pull chains 29, 30 secured to the shutter as indicated in Figures 1 and 2. The shutter 21 is provided with' an upper flange 3| and a lower tab 32 engageable with a bracket 33 carried by the backplate I0 to limit the movement of the shutter.

The wiring is brought in from the outlet box B to the splicing chamber I5 and through a cover 35, and is connected to lamp socket I1 and pull chain switch 36 as indicated at 36a, 36b, 360. In the construction shown, the socket I1 is of the screw threaded type adapted to support a single incandescent lamp 31, preferably a watt lamp. I

The detachable housing indicated generally by the reference character ll] has an outer ornamental sheet metal band with ends ii, s2 and front portion 43. It is slightly longer and deeper vertically than the backplate and receives a rearwardly opening, inner lamp box. This lamp box is formed by an upper sloping plate 45, a lower sloping plate 56, a front plate 41 and two side plates 43 and 39 welded together. The side plates 48." and 29 are offset as indicated at 58, as and welded to the ornamental housing as indicated at 55 (Fig. 1).

and welded to the front wall 43 of the ornamental band. The box and band form. a housing detachable as a unit. The housing, together with the sides and front of the lamp box, form side The front wall ll of the lamp box carries bracket strap indicated at 51,

the ornamental housing 139 extends above and below the lens plates at the front of the lens plates and at the ends of the luminaire. This constructionscreens the lens plates from observation at angles in the region of the horizontal and avi-ewdegrees above and below the horizontal, s

ventilation flues F2 and F3 and a front ventila tion flue F t so that convection currents through all the flues dissipate the heat from the, lamp:

and keep the lamp box from getting excessively hot. They also keep the housing, at saieandacceptable temperatures. The front walls? carries a bracket 53.. which receives a stripi be adapted to extend into the path of the shutter 21 andact as a screen as will be described.

The detachable housing unit, when completely assembled, isindicated in Figs. 5 and '7. It may be secured to the wall mounted element or unit shown in Figs. land 3 by screws indicated at 55, these screws passing through the top and bottom plates 45 and 6B of the lamp housing and. the forward ly extending flanges l3 and [4' of the backplat'e.

.The. upper. plate is provided with a rectangular lens opening 56 and the lower plate 46 with a similar lens opening 57. The upper plate and. front plate carry lens. supporting shelf brackets 58 and 59", and the lower plate d6 carries. a lens supporting strip 58. The lens openings 56 and 57' in the top and bottom platesof the. lamp, box' receive light transmitting and redistributing plates preferably in the-form of prismaticlenses having two parts as indicated at '10, 'H'fin the drawings. These lenses are. rectangular and in the design shown are of a length to accept as much lightfrom the substantially point source of the lamp .bulb 32 as conveniently can be redirected prismatically into useful directions. They are of a width to intercept a wide beam of light in planes normal to the wall.

As shown in the drawings, the lens-plates are alike. and slope at an angle. of approximately 15 tov the. horizontal. The inner lens member. ill is provided with light concentrating prisms. concentric. about anaxis lta normal to the plate; The plate is so mounted that the line connecting the light center or locus l with the center of the prism. system of the nearer lens makes an angle of approximately 5 Due to the tilting of the lens and the position of the locus of the light. rays, the inner plate 1E9 is'adapted to receive light rays making angles of substantially 55 to zenith on the side remote from'the wall and ,25" from zenith onthe. side near the. wall, with greater angles than these lengthwise of the rectangular plate. The refracting power of the prisms is such as to sub stantially converge the light so that it appears to come fromthe virtual center more remote from the plate.

The. second component of the, lens system, namely,. the plate H, is provided with parallel prisms 7.2. of such retracting power as to accept the light transmitted through the prisms of the first plate and bend this light intoanglesof. subthat when one looks at the fixture from across the room or lengthwise of the room, no annoying bright sources are visible.

In use, the luminaire is preferably mounted on the wall W above the hospital bed (and occupant) indicated in Figure 9 at. 88 for illuminating the reading task at 8 I. The luminaire L on the wall above the head ofthe bed produces upwardly and downwardly directed oblique beams of light as indicated by the full line photometric curves 82 and 83. These slope away from the zenith andnaclir to have a maximum intensity at an angle of 50 from the zenith and from nadir respectively.

An incandescent lamp of the size suitable for use in such a fixture has a filament which 00- cupies a region of substantial size so that light from the comparatively large filament converges on points on the lens at angles of approximately 10. each side of the central ray. Owing to this, the luminaire; is able to provide a lighting distribution with sufiicient lateral and longitudinal spreadto satisfactorily illuminate a reading task of the sizelikely to be required by the patient in the bed, even though the mounting height is comparatively low. For example, with a mounting height of approximately 6 ft. 8 inches, the luminaire with a 159 watt lamp will give a 25 ft. candle average illumination over a full newspaper page held by the occupant of the hospital bed in the ordinary reading position, and the minimum'intensity will be more than '75 per cent of the average.

Whenever it. is desiredto cut oil the downward component of light, it is possible to shift the shutter from the full line position shown in Fig. 3 to the dotted line position shown to position the shutter between the lamp and the lower plate. If, instead, it is desired to cut oil the ceiling illumination, the shutter is-shifted to the other position to place it between the lamp and the upper plate. When in either of these extreme positions, the light baffle strip t l intercepts back reflected light from one lens plate so that it does not fall on the other for transmission through it.

In general, however, the use ofthe upper beam is to give an indirect component of light in the room. This is. of sufficient intensity that with the lower beam closed on there is still suificient light in the room for general activities. When light is wanted on. the bed for any seeing purpose the lower beam is of course used. The upper beam is still used to avoid excessive contrasts between reading plane and background that would result if no indirect component was used.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and, constructionswithin the scope of theclaims, I wish it to beunderstood that the particularform shown isbutone of these forms, and various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A wall mounted luminaire having a normally vertical backplate, a plate carried lamp socket having its axis horizontal, in front of the plate, and parallel with the plate, and disposed to carry a lamp is front of the plate, two forwardly extending brackets, one near the socket and apertured for the lamp, the other spaced therefrom to accommodate the lamp, bracket carried bearing members coaxial with the socket axis, a shutter member extending between the bearing members and mounted thereon, and occupying a zone of substantially 120 width with respect to said axis, the shutter being shiftable on said bearing members to place it below the axis to intercept downwardly emitted light, above the axis to intercept upwardly emitted light or to the rear of the axis to allow escape of light upwardly, downwardly and forwardly.

2. A wall mounted luminaire having a normally vertical backplate, a plate carried lamp socket having its axis horizontal, in front of the plate, and parallel with the plate and disposed to carry a lamp in front of the plate, two forwardly extending brackets, one near the socket and apertured for the lamp, the other spaced therefrom to accommodate the lamp, bracket carried bearing members coaxial with the socket axis, a shutter member extending between the bearing members and mounted thereon, and occupying a zone of substantially 120 width with respect to said axis, the shutter being shiftable on said bearing members to place it below the-axis to intercept downwardly emitted light, above the axis to intercept upwardly emitted light or to the rear of the axis to allow escape of light upwardly, downwardly and forwardly, and an enclosing housing having side walls extending forwardly from the ends of the backplate, a front wall in front of the lamp shutter path and top and bottom walls apertured above and below the lamp region to allow escape of light upwardly or downwardly or both upwardly and downwardly depending upon the position of the shutter.

3. A Wall mounted luminaire as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top and bottom walls converge forwardly and the front and side walls have a vertical depth substantially equal to the vertical depth of the backplate.

4. A wall mounted luminaire as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top and bottom Walls converge forwardly and the front and side walls have a vertical depth substantially equal to the vertical depth of the backplate, and having light redirecting and transmitting closure plates in the apertured top and bottom walls, which closure plates are screened at angles near the horizontal by the upper and lower portions of the side and front walls. 7

5. In a luminaire of the point light source, wall mounted type, a lower upwardly and outwardly sloping, rectangular lens plate, an upper downwardly and outwardly sloping, rectangular lens plate, the plates intercepting light rays in pyramidal regions with. the apex at the locus of the light source, each lens plate having a system of annular light concentrating prisms and an opposed system of horizontal parallel light concentrating prisms, and a focal point in front of the locus of the light source whereby the diverging light intercepted by the lens plates is concentrated into asymmetric beams deviated forwardly of the axial lens of the plates.

6. In a luminaire of the wall mounted type, an upper prismatic light transmitting and redistributing plate, a lower prismatic light transmitting and redistributing plate, the upper plate sloping downwardly and forwardly, the lower plate sloping upwardly and forwardly, the plates being each adapted to accept a solid angle of light radiating from a locus therebetween, and having horizontal light deviating prisms and 0pposed annular light concentrating prisms to produce forwardly directed light beams of controlled lateral spread and at approximately 50 from the zenith and nadir respectively, for ceiling illumination and for illumination of a work area below the luminaire and distant from the luminaire mounting, the plates having high brightness in.

horizontal directions, and an opaque housing extending between the plates at the front and rear thereof and at the ends thereof to cut off light extraneous of that accepted by the plates, and having plate screening elements on its front and the ends of a vertical depth to intercept stray light emitted from the plates in generally horizontal directions without intercepting the dominant light rays in said beams.

7. A luminaire such as claimed in claim 6, having a shutter mounted for movement about a horizontal axis and movable from a position where it screens neither plate to positions where it screens all or selected portions of either plate.

8. A luminaire such as claimed in claim 6, having a shutter mounted for movement about a horizontal axis and movable from a position where it screens neither plate to positions where it screens all or selected portions of either plate, said shutter axis passing substantially through said locus and the shutter being reflecting and cylindrical so that when one plate is screened, the light output through the other plate is increased.

9. A luminaire as claimed in claim 6, wherein the prismatic plates are of rectangular shape, are tilted at angles of approximately 15 to the horizontal and the longitudinal prisms are of the same sign on opposite sides of median longitudinal planes normal thereto, said median longitudinal planes being in front of said locus and making angles of approximately 5 with a line connecting said locus and the centers of the annular prisms.

10. A luminaire as claimed in claim 6, wherein the longitudinal prisms near the front edges of the plates have less retracting power than those near the rear edges to divert light away from the upper and lower portions of the front of the housing.

11. A wall type luminaire having a back plate with rearwardly extendin side flanges adapted to space the back plate from the wall in engagement with the flanges and form a vertical ventilation flue, a, lamp socket secured in front of the plate with its axis parallel with the plate and adapted to carry an incandescent lamp in front of the back plate, a lamp box having end walls, a front wall and. forwardly converging top and bottom walls, the top and bottom walls having relatively large lens openings above and below the lamp, light redirecting lenses in the lens openings, so that the lamp is totally enclosed and the heat generated thereby is confined, and a combined light screen and heat protectinghousing having a vertical depth to screen the lenses against observation in horizontal directions and 7 end; and fronhwallse spaced from the" end; and Number front walls of: the 1amp box to provide side and 1,457,061 front venti-lationifiuesr 1,644,877

1,667,741 VEARL s. WINCE. 5 M99304 References Cited in the file of this patent 211181749 UNITED STATES, PATENTS Number Name Date Number Wempner' Apr. 18, 1922 Name- Date Guth May 29, 1923 Dorey Oct. 11, 1927 Roth May 1, 1928 Logan Apr. 7, 1931 Weave May 24, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec. 14, 1933 

